Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-30

| comical idea always cropping up to cap
the climax. Attending the funeral OF q
manager not long since at the Little
Church Around the Corner he observed
playfully: II hope the Actors Fund
will bury me in their plot, because then
we shall all be together ut the last call y
He was forcible and felicitons after
dinner speaker, generally preferE.ng,
Ike Chsuncey NJ. Depew, to speak late
in the evening and to satirize those who
preceded him. He always allowed the
event or some incident to suggest his
theme. He broke up a dinner party
that used to assemble every Saturday at
Delmonico's by satirical speech. At q
dinner when he was absent it was re.
solved that the speeches should be
written and read instead of uttered ex-
tempore. Stuart rose, expressed regret
that his absence hid prevented his com.
mitting his speech TO paper, that the
event suggested his boyhood days when
he read his composition in school. and
then gracefully compared the gathering
to lot of schooltoys reading their
compositions, the satire being so keen
that none ventured to follow him.
His robust health for so many years
enabled him to tax his powers Of
physical endurance to an extent that
frequently alarmed his friends, but
never him in the least. He was once so
strong that he thought nothing of
carrying a man around the block on his
back after dinner in the days of the old
Maison DOree on East Fourteenth street.
He did not wear fannels until recent
year, when an attack of sciatica in his
left leg admonished him that he must be
more careful of himself. The past few
years he always limped in walking aud
generally used a cane. Until this lame
ness came OH he was great pedestrian,
indeed never riding except when in
urgent haste.
As host and as a convivialist he will
long be remembered. There was moth.
ing in the eating or drinking line that
he did not know all about. He could
tell the piece de resistance of every
famous chef and of every recognized
resort. The ordering OF q dinner was
study to him, "a symphony" he used to
say, after Oscar Wilde, who bore him
letters OF introduction, and to whom he
took quite a fancy. Many sought his
company in order to get him to order the
feast. While he was a member of the
Mahattan Club the chef consulted him
almost daily. He gave in the days of
his prosperity feasts worthy of Lucullus.
He would be as free in his invitations to
his dinners "a to his theatres, and the
result was that he frequently had to
increase his seating capacity at the elev.
enth hour. He could talk most interest
ingly on almost any subject that came
up. He could give the date tof. hand of
any event in English or classical history.
He was as familiar with English politics
as the alphabet. His powers of memory,
indeed, were wonderful.
His wish was short life and merry
one; sudden death. He died suddenly
without the suffering he so dreaded.
He always good.naturedly declared that
he had missed his opportunity Of marry
ing, but with latent bitterness that
those few who knew his secret could
understand. The late Lord Houghton,
in visiting this country some years ago
with letters of introduction to Stuart,
who met and received every titled visitor
that ever came to the country in his
time, knew the lady of the exile's early
love, then living in seclusion in Florence,
and endeavored to bring about recon.
ciliation. The lady died soon after his
return to England.
His presence was very familiar about
town-the heavy, rotund figure, the old
style hat worn over the ears, the gray
beard and fierce mustache, the large
inclosing overcoat, or tho carelessly
worn frock. He was accustomed to wear
successive suits of the same kind, because
he was several years ago presented with
roll of the material out of which they
were successfully made. He was near.
sighted, and often, much to his regret,
did not recognize his friends, who, in
ignorance of his visual defect. charged
him with "cutting them," when he had
no thought OF the kind. An elder sister
survives him in Galway. who sent him
remittances from time to time in the lat.
ter years of his life.-[N. Y. Sun.